International volunteering as a tool for personal transformation

At COCAT we understand international volunteering as a tool not only for personal transformation but also as a tool to drive change in the local community where the project is developed. It’s a win-win situation and this is why for us this type of experience is so important.

This proposal doesn’t only target youths, also people of all ages. Volunteering brings you closer to a different culture, to the importance of altruism as a tool to build a better world, to foster collaboration among peoples and forms you to be an open person who embraces the world in its full diversity.

Volunteering is also an opportunity to become an ambassador of your country and to externalise everything around you and that is a part of you to share it with the rest of the world.

Local communities not only benefit from the concrete project but they also contribute new points of view from people coming from all around the world and gives them the opportunity to share their knowledge and learn without moving from their country.

Also, a volunteering project isn’t only measured in terms of the physical or mental tasks, but also through learning new things and skills both for the volunteers and for the local communities.

To participate as a volunteer, the first thing one needs is motivation, understanding why you want to give some of your time to volunteer. Once we have this on board, all that is left is to contact COCAT.

To volunteer, you also need to be open and flexible because, as stated above, we all come from somewhere and we must be able to understand the diversity in the world to accept it as part of our own.

Before embarking on such a venture, we offer some training to make sure that there are no doubts, insecurities or concerns and that future volunteers understand what they will be doing and what the expected outcomes are. This training is completely free and, in some cases (for people under the age of 18 and people travelling to Africa, Asia or Latin America), this training is compulsory.

We will only change the world if we do so together, each with little actions that generate big changes.